Monday, August 20, 2012

On a Whim

Sometimes "on a whim" projects are the best kind, and this one was no exception, however, it would've been a whole lot smarter if I'd chosen something a little less utilised. A little tip - do not decide "on a whim" to paint your bed! Unless of course you are a speed painter, have heaps of time and can paint uninterrupted and can spare more than, oh, an hour at a time to devote to it!

Our bed had bothered me for years. I liked the overall style, and it was structurally sound being solid timber but it was stained a horrible, cheap-looking orangey colour and the timber had been badly finished off making it rough with raw edges - so rough that rubbing a hand along the frame guaranteed a splinter or two. I often dreamt of a new bed (I also dreamt of a house in the Hamptons ...) but because new beds are generally very expensive, and in our house there is always something else to be spending our money on, I knew I had to come up with a cheaper creative solution so that I wouldn't cringe every time I walked into our room. So, what did I decide on?
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This is the only BEFORE photo I have of the glorious orange bed. Me, happily sanding away.

A facelift (no, not for me - although I could certainly use one especially the morning after I've been up half the night with my little Miss) - for the bed! I would paint it - white, like in my dreams. So, about 2 or 3 months after our daughter was born (during that beautiful, loved-up stage when life is feeling so rosy and special that you think anything is possible and you're capable of marathon feats), I walked into our room, looked at the bed and decided right then and there that it was time. My husband thought I was kidding but I just KNEW at that very moment I was going to do it - I was passionately determined. Out came the allen key and bit by bit I pulled the thing apart and carried it out to the garage and sanded that baby crazy. De-orangey'ing it was reward in itself!

This is how our bedroom looked while the frame was in the garage. It was very plain and needed a bit of love.

I was feeding my daughter 2-3 hourly at the time so "a little bit of quiet" came infrequently but I just left the bed all set up in the garage and squirrelled away whenever I got a free moment. It took quite a bit longer than I had originally judged (in my post-pregnancy, blissful hormonal state) and required a primer plus 3 coats of paint on some parts of the frame (the parts that weren't going to be obviously in view only got 2 coats) and we certainly hadn't planned on sleeping on a mattress for six weeks, but the end result was so completely worth it. Now not only does it look a hundred times better, there's not a splinter in sight ... kind of a good thing for the marital bed!
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Voila! A new bed! What do you think? I love it. And that's my son refusing to let me take a photo without him in it.

Side note: I sort of knew the bed was going to look good so I gave our room a mini-makeover at the same time, buying new lamps and adding in some cute little Etsy prints from "Tastes Orangey" - which, coincidentally, is nothing like looking "orangey"!

1 comment:

Looks fantastic Nikki, I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams on Fridays :D Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party

About

Hi, my name is Nikki and when I find "a little bit of quiet" I LOVE doing something "projecty", something creative, something colourful, something fun, something a bit ... "Martha". Crafting. Sewing. DIY. Organising. It's all therapy to me!Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed yourstay. x